The present invention relates to a thin film type two-dimensional light beam deflector capable of two-dimensionally deflecting the guided light beam by utilizing, for example, the acousto-optic effect or thermo-optic effect.
In various kinds of photoelectronics-applied devices such as bar-code reader, laser printer, facsimile, flaw detector and optical memory, the necessity of two-dimensional control of the progressing directions of light beam such as laser light is increasing considerably at present.
For this purpose, the two-dimensional light beam deflector is utilized, but conventionally the two-dimensional light deflection was performed by mechanically displacing part of an optical system, through which a light beam passed, as represented by rotating mirror or vibrating mirror.
However, this kind of light beam deflector requires a moving part, and thus is inferior in speed and reliability and creates problems because of its complicated optical system, such as difficulties in production including the alignment of optical axis, minitarization and cost cutting. Also, the conventional deflector has a problem of large power consumption.